Collapsible Hamper

ABSTRACT

A collapsible hamper is provided that includes a base, a self-supporting shell formed of a lightweight flexible, but somewhat rigid material and a releasable securing mechanism for releasably connecting the base and the shell to one another. The securing mechanism enables the shell to be secured to the base in a manner that provides an upright hamper for receiving clothes therein, but also can separate the shell and the base to place the shell and base in a flat storage configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional ApplicationSerial No. 61/782,321, filed on Mar. 14, 2013, the entirety of which isexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a container for holding itemsof clothing therein, and more specifically to collapsible containers forholding clothes therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

to the past, to facilitate the collection of clothing that needed to bewashed, various types of containers, bins or clothes hampers have beenutilized to receive the dirty clothing and retain it until the hamperwas full. The clothing could then be removed from the hamper in order toclean it, or the hamper itself could be moved to the location where theclothes are Co be cleaned.

Hampers designed for this purpose have a variety of different shapes andare formed of a variety of different materials. In many prior artversions, the hampers are formed with rigid structures, such as a wood,to enable the hampers to be readily free-standing and able to hold theweight of the clothes within the hampers without collapsing under theweight.

However, with the hampers of this type, the materials used to make thesetypes of hamper free-standing make the hamper heavy and difficult tomove. Therefore, alternative versions of hampers have been constructedof lighter materials, rendering the hampers lighter and more easilymoveable. Nevertheless, the size of the hampers necessary to hold theclothes makes these prior art hampers unwieldy when it is required tomove the hampers from one location to another, especially when empty.

Therefore, there have been developed hampers that are formed fromlightweight materials that also can be collapsed into a storageconfiguration when the hamper is not in use, thereby addressing theproblem of the size of the hamper when not in use. These prior artconstructions involve a container formed of a fabric outer shell securedto a fabric base. The shell includes a spring member disposed within theshell that extends in a helical configuration upwardly along theinterior of the shell. The spring member can be compressed into acoil-like shape to position the shell in a generally flat configuration,and can be allowed to expand outwardly into the helical shape to extendthe shell into the deployed configuration. The construction of the upperand lower ends of the hamper constrain the spring member to limit theextension of the spring member that can occur and to enable the springto maintain a constant upward pressure on the upper end in order to keepthe hamper in an extended, open position.

However, when it is desired to collapse the hamper, a force can beexerted against the spring member to urge the upper and lower ends ofthe hamper towards one another. When in the fully collapsed position,the opposed ends of the hamper can be secured to one another to maintainthe hamper in this position. When it is desired to place the hamper inthe open, and erect position, the connection between the ends can bedetached or otherwise removed, and the spring member causes the ends tomove away from one another into the extended position. Additionally, thefabric used to form the base and the shell significantly reduces theweight of the hamper, making the hamper easier to move in either thecollapsed/storage or extended/use positions and does not affect theability of the spring member to act on the ends of the hamper as aresult of the lightweight an flexible nature of the fabric.

Nevertheless, these prior art hampers formed of the fabric shellincluding the spring member have a number of shortcomings, Inparticular, the fabric shell often times does not have sufficientrigidity to support the weight of the clothes held within the shell,such that the clothes positioned within the hamper cause the hamper totip over. Also, the spring member disposed within the shell is formed ofa metal which after a number of uses can wear through and create a holein the shell through which the end of the spring member then extends.When this occurs, the spring member no longer is able to reliably holdthe shell in the extended position, significantly limiting theeffectiveness of the hamper, as well as creating a hazard when thehamper is in use as a result of the metal end of the spring memberextending outwardly from the shell.

As a result, it is desirable to develop a collapsible hamper thatovercomes the problems associated with the prior art hampers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the collapsiblehamper includes a shell formed of a panel of a semi-rigid,self-supporting material. The panel is secured to a base and optionallya top formed of a similar or different material by a releasable securingmechanism. The mechanism can be used to separate the shell from the basein order to collapse the shell/panel and base into a collapsed orstorage configuration, and to engage the base and panel with one anotherto position the hamper in an erect use position. The nature of thematerial forming the panel for the shell enables the panel to functionas the stabilizing member of the hamper in the erect, use positionwithout the need for any additional stabilizing members or structures onthe hamper. The use of the releasable securing mechanism positions thepanel and its constituent parts relative to one another to hold thehamper in the erect position until such time as the securing mechanismis disengaged, allowing the panel and other members of the hamper to befolded into the collapsed position.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the panel can beformed in various configurations to enable the panel to form a shell forthe hamper having different cross-sectional shapes and configurations.The panel can also include various additional features, includinghandles, to facilitate the use of the hamper.

Numerous other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be made apparent from the following detailed descriptiontogether with the drawings figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated ofpracticing the present disclosure.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a first embodiment of a hamper constructedaccording to the present disclosure in an erected configuration;

FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the hamper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the hamper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the hamper of FIG. 1 in a collapsedconfiguration;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of a hamper constructedaccording to the present disclosure in an erected configuration;

FIG. 6 is a side plan view of the hamper of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front plan view of the hamper of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the hamper of FIG. 5 in a collapsedconfiguration;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the hamper of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the hamper ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the hamper of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a sixth embodiment of the hamper of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a front elevation view of a seventh embodiment of the hamperof the present invention in an erect or assembled configuration;

FIG. 14 is a rear elevation view of the hamper of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a top plan view of the hamper of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of the hamper of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a front elevation view of the hamper of FIG. 13 with the toppartially removed; and

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the hamper of FIG. 13 in a collapsed ordisassembled configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now in detail to the drawing figures, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts throughout the several views, oneembodiment of a collapsible hamper constructed according to the presentdisclosure is illustrated generally at 100 in FIG. 1.

The hamper 100 is formed of a base 102 connected to a shell 104. Thebase 102 is formed from a suitable material that is lightweight, whileproviding an amount of weight and rigidity to the overall structure ofthe hamper 100 to assist in maintaining the hamper 100 in an uprightposition when erected. The material used to for the base 102 canadditionally be selected to be flexible in nature. In the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1-4, the base 102 is formed to be generallycircular in shape, though other shapes are also contemplated as beingwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

The shell 104 is formed of a material that can be the same as, ordifferent than the material forming the base 102, and in the illustratedembodiment is a material that is both flexible and lightweight, Theshell 104 can be formed of any suitable type of material, such as a foammaterial, including but not limited to a sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate(EVA) foam. The foam can be used by itself or can be formed into alaminated panel or sheet 124 by securing a sheet of polyethylene (PE) tothe EVA foam by a suitable adhesive mechanism, securing mechanism ormolding mechanism, such as by placing a polypropylene (PP) sheet betweenthe EVA and the PE and then heating the EVA, PP and PF to fuse the PP tothe EVA and PE, thereby forming the EVA foam sheet 124. This EVA foamsheet 124 can then be formed into the desired configuration and shape byany suitable process, such as by die-cutting, cold forming and/orstitching, among others. In the illustrated embodiment, the shell. 104can have a number of apertures 106 formed therein that function ashandles to facilitate the grasping and moving of the hamper 100.Further, the shell 104 can be formed of more than one sheet of thedesired material that are secured to one another in any suitable fashionto form a shell 104 having the desired size and shape when erected intothe hamper 100.

The formed sheet 124 can then optionally be covered by a suitableprotective and decorative sheath, such as a fabric of natural orsynthetic fibers, that can be engaged around the sheet 124 in anysuitable manner, such as by stitching. However, in the illustratedembodiment, the shell 104 is formed exclusively of the sheet 124, andoptionally the sheath, and does not have any other structural featuresform on or within the shell 104. This greatly increases the ease ofconstruction of the shell 104 and the hamper 100, as well asfacilitating the conversion of the hamper 100 between the upright andcollapsed positions.

To form the hamper 100, the base 102 and the shell 104 are secured toone another utilizing a suitable releasable securing mechanism 108 thatenables the base 102 and the shell 104 to be quickly and reliablyengaged and disengaged from one another. The mechanism 108 can enablethe base 102 and the shell 104 to be completely separated from oneanother, but in the illustrated embodiment, the base 102 and the shell104 remain attached to one another in the collapsed configuration, asbest shown in FIG. 4, in which the base 102 and the shell are co-planar.In this embodiment, the mechanism 108 takes the form of a zipper 110including a first set of teeth 112 disposed around the periphery of thebase 102, and a second set of teeth 114 disposed along the lower edge116 and side edges 118 of the shell 104, with a closure member 120operably connected to the sets of teeth 112 and 114.

To erect the hamper 100 from the collapsed configuration shown in FIG.4, the closure member 120 is moved along the periphery of the base 102to engage the teeth 112 on the base 102 with the corresponding teeth 114on the lower edge 116 of the shell 104. Once the closure member 120 hasbeen moved entirely around the base 102, the closure member 120 thenengages the teeth 114 disposed on opposite side edges 118 of the shell104. Upon reaching the top edge 122 of the shell 104, the closure member120 has engaged the base 102 and the shell 104 into the erectedconfiguration shown in FIG. 1.

The material forming the shell 104 has enough flexibility to conform tothe shape of the base 102 when the closure member 120 engages the shell104 with the base 102, but also has enough rigidity to maintain thehamper 100 in an upright position. Further, the rigidity of the materialforming the shell 104 is sufficient to prevent the bowing of the shell104 under the pressure or force of the clothing positioned within thehamper 100, such that the hamper 100 will not tip over due to an unevenweight distribution within the hamper 100. Further, the securingmechanism 108 is the only mechanism utilized to hold the base 102 andthe shell 104 in the erect or upright position, such that no otherstructures or devices are required for the proper construction oroperation of the hamper 100. For example, in the illustrated embodimentthe hamper 100 does not include any spring members or braces attached toor disposed within the hamper 100, as in prior art hampers.

In an alternative embodiment for the hamper 100′ shown in FIGS. 5-8, thebase 102′ is formed similarly to the previous embodiment, but the shell104′ is formed by cutting a rectangular sheet 124′into two triangularsections 126′ and securing the short edges 128′ to one another to for arhomboidal panel 130′ for the shell 104′, as shown in FIG. 8. The teeth112′ of the mechanism 108′ are disposed around the base 102′, while theteeth 114′ are located along the lower edge 116′ and the side edges 118′of the shell 104′. The closure member 120′ then can engage the base 102′with the shell 104′ similarly to the previous embodiment, with themember 120′ engaging the teeth 114′ on opposed side edges 118′ in ahelical manner around the outside of the shell 104′ until reaching thetop edge 122′ of the shell 124′.

Other embodiments for the hamper 100 are also shown in FIGS. 9-12, wherethe hamper 300 can be formed with different cross-sectional shapes, suchas triangular and hexagonal, among others, as in FIGS. 9 and 10, whichmay also include a different number of sheets 324 forming the shell 304and joined by the mechanism 308, as shown in FIG. 11. Also, the hamper400 can be formed to have an integral cover 430 connected to the shell404, as shown in FIG. 12, to form a completely enclosed hamper 400. Thecover 430 may also include a top (not shown) that can be selectivelyclosed over the opening defined by the cover 430.

In still another embodiment of the hamper 200 shown in Figs, 13-18, thehamper 200 can be formed with a base 202, a side panel or shell 204 anda top or cover 206. The base 202, side panel 204 and the cover 206 areeach formed from similar materials to those described in priorembodiments, such that the components of the hamper 200 are able toprovide the desired flexibility and rigidity to the components of thehamper 200.

Looking now at FIGS. 13, 14 and 16, the base 202 is formed with agenerally flat lower surface 208 that provides a supporting surface forthe hamper 200. The base 202 also includes a curved outer rim 210 thatcurves outwardly from the periphery of the lower surface 208 to the sidepanel 204.

The base 202 is connected to the side panel 204 along its peripheryopposite the lower surface by a suitable and releasable connecting meansor releasable securing member 212, such as a zipper 214. The connectingmeans 212 engages the base 202 with the side panel 204 to form acontinuous surface for the hamper 200 in order to adequately function tohold selected items (not shown) within the interior of the hamper 200.In one embodiment where the connecting means 212 is the zipper 214, thehamper 200 is formed such that the base 202 and the side panel 204 aremovably, but permanently connected to one another. In the illustratedembodiment, the connecting means 212 extends around the entire peripheryof the side panel 214.

As best shown in FIGS. 13 and 17, the side panel 204 is connected to thebase 202 by the connecting means 21.2 such that the side panel 204 formsa generally tubular shape extending upwardly from the base 202. Thoughthe side panel 204 can be shaped as desired, in the illustratedembodiment the side panel 204 is generally rectangular in shape. Whenfully erected on the base 202, the connecting means 212 extends upwardlyfrom the base 202 to engage the opposed ends 216 (FIG. 18) of the sidepanel 204 in a vertical direction, or other suitable configuration.

Above the side panel 204 is disposed the cover 206. Referring now toFIGS. 13-15, the cover 206 is formed similarly to the base 202 with acurved outer rim 218. However, instead of a flat upper surface, thecover 206 defines an opening 220 within the rim 218 to enable access tothe interior 222 of the hamper 200.

Looking now at FIGS. 13, 14 and 17, the cover is connected to the sidepanel 204 by the connecting means 212 similarly to the base 202, thougha different means 212 can be used to connect the cover 206, if desired.The means 212 extends from the side panel 204 opposite the base 202 intoengagement with the periphery of the rim 218. The means 212 extendsaround the rim 218 to secure the cover 206 to the periphery of the sidepanel 204.

The hamper 200, when disassembled as shown in FIG. 18, can be easilystored in a relatively flat configuration with the connecting means 212holding the base 202, side panel 204 and the cover 206 in connectionwith each other. Further, the hamper 200 can be formed without the cover206. Also, when in the use configuration, the hamper 200 includes a pairof handles 224, which can be formed of a flexible material or asemi-rigid material as desired, on opposed sides of the side panel 204in order to enable the hamper 200 to be moved relatively easily.

Changes can be made in the above constructions without departing fromthe scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained inthe above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Various otherembodiments of the present invention are contemplated as being withinthe scope of the filed claims particularly pointing out and distinctlyclaiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.

1. A collapsible hamper comprising: a) a base; b) a self-supporting shell formed of a lightweight flexible material; and c) a releasable securing mechanism for releasably connecting the base and the shell to one another.
 2. The collapsible hamper of claim 1, wherein the securing mechanism retains the base and the shell connected to one another in a collapsed configuration.
 3. The collapsible hamper of claim 1, wherein the base and the shell are co-planar in the collapsed position.
 4. The collapsible hamper of claim 1, wherein the shell is formed of at least one sheet of a self-supporting material.
 5. The collapsible hamper of claim 4, wherein the at least one sheet is formed of a foam material.
 6. The collapsible hamper of claim 4 wherein the shell is formed of a number of sheets joined to one another to form the shell.
 7. The collapsible hamper of claim. 4 wherein the at least one sheet of self-supporting material is formed of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam.
 8. The collapsible hamper of claim 4 wherein the at least one sheet of self-supporting material is formed of a laminate material.
 9. The collapsible hamper of claim 8 wherein the laminate material comprises: a) a layer of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam; and b) at least one additional layer.
 10. The collapsible hamper of claim 9 wherein the at least one additional layer comprises a sheet of polyethylene (PE) secured to the to the EVA foam layer.
 11. The collapsible hamper of claim 10 wherein the Ni is secured to the EVA foam layer by a sheet of polypropylene (PP).
 12. The collapsible hamper of claim 1 wherein the shell is formed exclusively of at least one sheet of self-supporting material and an optional sheath.
 13. The collapsible hamper of claim 1 wherein the hamper does not include a spring member.
 14. The collapsible hamper of claim 1 wherein the releasable securing mechanism includes a zipper.
 15. The collapsible hamper of claim 14 wherein the releasable securing mechanism further comprises: a) a first set of teeth disposed around the periphery of the base; and b) a second set of teeth disposed at least partially around the periphery of the shell.
 16. The collapsible hamper of claim 15 wherein the second set of teeth is disposed around the entire periphery of the shell.
 17. The collapsible hamper of claim 1 further comprising a cover secured to the shell opposite the base.
 18. A method of assembling a hamper comprising the steps of: a) providing the hamper of claims 1; and b) engaging the securing mechanism between the base and the shell to move the hamper from a collapsed position to an erected position.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of disengaging the securing mechanism to move the hamper from the erected position to the collapsed position.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of disengaging the securing mechanism comprises maintaining the base and the shell in engagement with one another. 